Tavily was acquired by Nebius in February 2026. For teams that depend on Tavily for agent search, this creates vendor risk: pricing changes, API deprecation, or feature shifts could follow. If you are evaluating alternatives or want a backup provider, here are five search APIs ranked by independence, feature parity, and migration ease.
Scavio is independently operated, offers multi-platform coverage that Tavily never had, and matches Tavily's entry pricing at $30/mo. The MCP server and REST API provide two integration paths for teams migrating from Tavily.
Full Ranking
Scavio
Independent multi-platform alternative to Tavily
- Independent company, no acquisition risk
- Six platforms vs Tavily's web-only
- Same $30/mo entry tier as Tavily
- MCP server for drop-in agent integration
- No AI summaries like Tavily provides
- Smaller free tier (250 vs Tavily's 1K)
Exa
Independent semantic search alternative
- Independent company
- 1K free requests monthly
- Semantic search provides different results than Tavily
- Semantic model, not keyword search like Tavily
- Content extraction costs extra
- No structured SERP data
Brave Search API
Independent index, fully non-Google alternative
- Own search index, no Google dependency
- Independent company
- Predictable pricing
- No free tier since Feb 2026
- Web only like Tavily
- No AI summaries
SerpAPI
Established Google SERP parsing with long track record
- Operating since 2018, long track record
- 100 free searches
- Comprehensive Google SERP parsing
- 5x more expensive per query than Tavily at scale
- No AI summaries or LLM optimization
- No credit rollover
Perplexity Sonar
AI-processed search closest to Tavily's approach
- AI processing similar to Tavily's approach
- Citations included
- Pro tier for deeper search
- Most expensive at scale
- Variable token-based pricing
- Perplexity itself could face acquisition
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Criteria | Scavio | Runner-up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independence | Independent | Independent | Independent |
| Platform coverage | 6 platforms | Web (semantic) | Web (own index) |
| Tavily feature parity | Structured data (better), no AI summaries | Semantic (different) | Web search (similar) |
| Entry pricing | $30/mo | $5/1K | $5/1K |
| Free tier | 250/mo | 1K/mo | None |
| MCP support | Official | Community | Community |
Why Scavio Wins
- Independent ownership means no acquisition-driven pricing changes, API deprecations, or strategic pivots that corporate parents introduce.
- Six-platform coverage is a strict upgrade over Tavily's web-only search, giving teams more grounding sources without adding another provider.
- Matching Tavily's $30/mo entry tier simplifies budget conversations during migration since the line item stays the same.
- Exa offers more free credits and a useful semantic search model, making it the best complement to Scavio for teams that want both keyword and semantic retrieval.
- MCP server at mcp.scavio.dev/mcp provides the same zero-code agent integration pattern that made Tavily popular with LangChain developers.